Nigeria and money politics -By Abdulmumini Sani

PDP, APC, PDM, APGA are birds of the same feather whose members were once in the PDP. The blood running in their veins are that of PDP; they are the children who were nurtured by the PDP who don’t know anything about being upright, just and fair.

The craze for money in Nigerian politics is not new in the anals of our history. It’s a tradition that has its root dated back to the first republic where the use of gratification started to manifest. Presently, the norm has been associated with a category of politicians who day in day out struggle to snatch the peoples mandate through kickbacks and bribes. The norm is also associated to the breeds that could be found everywhere in the present day ruling party.

A synoptic overview is enough to buttress the above assertion: one would wonder what brought about this behaviour? Is it because the country is so poor? Or is it that the wealth of the nation is unevenly distributed? In this, various factors both within and without could be lumped into this category. The ruling party in one way or the other has been vehemently accused of this behaviour, a behaviour which is seen as a retardation of the quality of our so called leaders.

One would wonder how even the opposition were found guilty of this abnormal behaviour? In any developed society, the opposition in politics is seen and respected for their status of check and balances. Oppositions are watchdogs, whistles blowers and representatives of the poeple. They are also seen as sub-groups, or parties that stand to ensure rule of law and stability of democracy in its real definition.

In Nigeria, especially in my state, Katsina, a lay man cannot distinguish from the ruling party and the opposition, because all are in this dangerous terrain, a terrain which is causing fear and uncertainty in the electorate about the future management of the state’s hard earned funds.

Corruption which is a brain child of money politics is found in the fabrics of both the ruling party and the opposition in my own state.

Another painful scenario appears as most of the opposition (APC, PDM) expected to be checking the shoddy activities of the ruling party have become mundane or unprofessional doctors who stand with their eyes wide open lamenting the rise in the temperature forgetting to attack the malarial parasite in the blood stream.

Money have been used everywhere like a spree in primary elections conducted by the mega parties – PDP and APC from the local, state and at the national level.

One may wonder, since both the ruling and the opposition parties resolved to use money as a weapon to woo the support of the electorate, how can the common man have a sigh of relief? Where would the masses of this country go to look for a real democratic practice? Where would a common man look for a messiah? Indeed no where! Since the political fabrics have been polluted with corruption and use of money as the last resort.

How can Katsina State be saved from the hands of unscrupulous power mongers? The opposition, viz APC, PDM and APGA have concerned themselves with money politics instead of posing a threat to the ruling party.

They are money bags politicians who are bent on using their money to rule the masses by hooks and crooks.

In concrete terms which among the PDP, APC, APGA and PDM should be allowed to rule as they continu to induce the common man by buying his rights? None of them, the PDP, APC, APGA and PDM is qualified to represent the masses.

In fact this trend would not augur well with the current situation in the country, a situation which is anxiously looking for a saviour who will sail the ship of the nation to a destiny where people will enjoy the manna of life in peace.